Caged Bird
by Asukai Haruka
Summary: Weiss Schnee was a caged bird who had to pretend she was free, a wounded girl who had to pretend she was a happy, fulfilled heiress. Until now, her acting has been perfect, but it seems that a certain black haired girl is not being fooled... Blake x Weiss Twoshot
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: From the very beginning, I have always supported Blake x Weiss, and it is time for me to make a contribution to the fandom! I hope this makes an enjoyable read!**

**Haruka**

Being lonely was not necessarily a bad thing, it was something that Weiss knew well. Loneliness did not really hurt, it was… a feeling she could not exactly explain. Loneliness was just that, loneliness, a sort of numb, hollow feeling in her chest, she had long grown accustomed to it and hence, it rarely bothered her. The personality her parents and standing required of her made her a person so unlikeable, even she thought herself repulsive and foolish. How could she expect anyone else to think otherwise? To protect her family company from slander that was so obviously true, Weiss was not so delusional as to do that of her own free will; let them say what they will about the Schnee Dust Company, especially if it were not false, the public deserved to know. That was how she honestly, truly felt; she was actually embarrassed to have the name "Schnee" due to all the terrible things those with the same name had done. When Weiss had stormed, sputtering, away from that beautiful black haired girl from the first day, she was actually hiding a smile of approval at the girl's words; Weiss honestly admired that black haired girl for being able to speak the truth that she herself was forbidden from acknowledging.

She loathed that she was but a weak, caged bird, a dog on a leash, a pathetic creature trapped and restricted by her parents. She was just another one of the Schnee Dust Company's victims of subjugation, of oppression, just another casualty. Her parents would not think twice to hurt her, to use her and to direct her like a wooden puppet; as long as it was for the good of the company and would bring them profit, they would do it, however dubious, inhumane and underhanded it was. Weiss wished she were stronger and could force them to listen to her, wished she were able to do something aside taking orders like a good dog.

Her very personality, that spoiled and arrogant brat she showed to the world, was another one of the orders she had to swallow. The clothes she wore, too, and the accessory in her hair, it was all specifically chosen for her to give off a "regal" image. She was not given much leeway, even the length of her hair and nails had to be kept constant and to her parents' liking. Weiss did not appreciate any of it, she wanted to be herself and no one else, but the only way she could express her dissatisfaction and individuality was to tie her high ponytail off-center, a small and useless sign of defiance that she kept up anyway. Attending Beacon was indeed one of the things she wanted to do, but it was also an order as she was to advertise the powers of Dust to gain the company more customers; hence, it ultimately did not count either way, being half of each.

Weiss was alone in her golden cage; she had been alone from the very beginning. Her life would never change, she would always feel lonely; she had resigned herself to all that long ago. Her parents' shadows would loom over her until the day they died, and she was quite sure her individual soul could not endure the agony and oppression to survive, unchanged, by that time. However, Beacon put all its students into teams of four, rendering solitude virtually impossible; the white haired heiress' world had changed, forcibly expanding to include her three teammates.

Her parents were not happy about the fact that their daughter ended up paired with three nobodies, peasants of low social standing; they were especially galled that one of the peasants had a pretty shady crime record and might have been responsible for several attacks on the Schnee Dust Company's cargo trains. "Stay away from her, but keep an eye on her in case she tries anything," they ordered Weiss, and the poor girl could only nod and obey. "Do not grow close to even a single one of those… things in your team."

Hence, she had to keep them all at arm's length; especially that alluring black haired girl with the cat-like amber eyes, the girl she met outside Beacon on day one. Weiss could watch her, but that was all she could do, the girl was an enemy of the company and had to be treated as such. Weiss found out that girl's name with time, Blake Belladonna, and it honestly intoxicated the white haired girl even further. Black deadly nightshade, the meaning of her name suited someone so mysterious and powerful, someone who exuded an almost thrilling aura of danger. Weiss felt an undeniable attraction to her, and that was absolutely taboo. Her family, her parents, would never condone her interacting with commoners, they reminded her constantly that she was an elite, that she should only rub elbows with those of her social standing or higher. _Stay away from the peasants_, they had repeated since she was a child, drilling it into her head. _They are all beneath you, and you must treat them with the contempt they deserve_.

Robotically, Weiss had agreed to obey, concealing the flash of defiance in her eyes and looking as deferential as a puppy. She had no choice but to obey, if she did not, her parents would show her exactly how underhanded and heartless the Schnee Dust Company was. They would go after the "peasant" friend of their daughter and lock him or her away in some Dust mine, forced to work for the company until they died. Weiss could never bring such a terrible fate upon anyone, especially not anyone she liked enough to befriend. That was why, for the sake of the world, Weiss had to choose the path of voluntary loneliness, talking only to the other elites her parents would approve of.

Ruby Rose, the youngest member of their team, had made a few awkward attempts to get on friendly terms with her despite all the times she was let down, but she was so socially retarded that Weiss could easily put her off with her false cold and arrogant act; with Ruby, she did not even need to try. Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's elder sister (with absolutely no family resemblance, Weiss might add), was way too sociable to bother herself with someone so resistant to her, she had so many other friends to choose from already. And Blake, alluring, beautiful Blake, was too antisocial to respond much to Ruby and Yang's advances, let alone make any of her own.

One of the arguments she had had with Ruby strayed into her mind for a moment, filling her senses with the sights and sounds of the emerald forest, back when they were lost and Weiss was trying to get her bearings, panicking but trying her best not to let it show. Ruby had snapped at her, "Well, stop acting like you're perfect!" Those words cut through Weiss more than any sword, any spear, any claw, any fang, could have, it brought a stinging pain all the way to her very core. She was the most imperfect human being she knew, with countless wounds all over her crumbled soul, but she was forbidden from showing that to anyone. Almost bitterly, she had spat out, "I'm not perfect!" Before she could reveal her true fragility and pain, she quickly raised her guard and forced out something haughty, narrowly saving herself. "Not yet," she had said, as if she could ever be perfect. Fortunately, Ruby was not the best at reading people and failed to catch her bluff; Weiss was sure that Blake definitely would have.

Weiss hoped that she would be content with loneliness throughout her stay at Beacon and continue putting up a convincing act regardless for this part of the play that was her miserable life. However, in reality, things loved to go horribly wrong and make you miserable; that little, ignorable attraction she had felt toward Blake had changed, mutated, morphing into a flame that _demanded_ she try befriend the dark haired girl.

To remind herself of who she was, Weiss did something she never would have done otherwise, step in front of a mirror and look herself in the eye. It would hurt her terribly, she knew that well, but it was the only way she could hope to rid herself of that unbearable, brainless desire deep in her frozen heart. She could not help but flinch at what she saw gazing back at her, her knees buckling beneath her and her heart twisting with disgust and pain. Anyone else would see a breathtakingly beautiful ice princess with snow white hair, crystal blue eyes and skin like porcelain, but Weiss knew better; she could not help but know better.

Clenching her fists, the white haired girl pleaded with the mirror, "I can keep it from the world, why won't you let me hide from me?" The words came from her song, the song she had written to express her pain and yearning, a song that had raised much controversy on her life, her happiness and her mental state when she first sang it. It galled her parents considerably to deflect all those worries and questions, and they forbade her from singing publicly from that day onward. Sighing, she studied the wounded, hollow-eyed girl that was her reflection, the scarred girl who wore brilliant masks at her parents' bidding, and told herself, "Remember, this is not for you, it is for them. You are Weiss Schnee, and no amount of hoping and yearning will change that."

Her heart was but a shattered mess of chains and blood, nothing else. Sighing again, she stepped out of her clothes and headed into the shower, having stood at the mirror for long enough. Fortunately, she was the last girl in the shower; she would have created a line otherwise.

Turning the knob to cold, she stood silently as freezing water poured over her slim, pale body. Exhaling shakily, she felt the cold nip at her skin, nothing in comparison to the blizzard that raged in her frozen, lonely heart. She thought almost bitterly of her name, Weiss Schnee, of the gleaming white snow that it meant. The pretty princess Snow White's heart was frozen over with the very thing that she was named after; the freezing snow was the very thing that hurt her so badly she could barely continue to live.

Weiss hoped that the biting cold would numb her again, would kill that burning desire within her for Blake Belladonna. She had to turn her heart to stone, it was the only way she could survive a life like this one. That way, she would have nothing to oppress or repress, nothing to hide, and she would no longer feel like a miserable marionette forced into some sinister puppet show against her will. She would not be happy, she probably never would be, but not feeling anything was miles better than being downright depressed.

"Hey, Weiss," when she emerged from the shower, Ruby once again attempted to be as friendly as she could be, "Care to join us for dinner?" Why could she not leave her alone? Had Weiss not been cold and arrogant enough to chase that silver eyed girl off?

Miserable and icy, Weiss snapped, "Not in your dreams." Yang made some sort of comment about her bad mood (she might have mentioned something about it being someone's "time of the month"), but the white haired girl was much too upset to snap at her for it. Pushing past them, she headed back to the empty dormitory where she could cry her heart out in peace and privacy; everyone else would be at dinner, stuffing their faces. The lucky things, able to do as they pleased, free from the chains that kept Weiss firmly bound to her parents' every whim…

When she passed Blake, she briefly noticed a flash of emotion in those hypnotizing amber eyes; was it… sympathy? Putting it out of mind, the white haired girl fled before her tears started to fall, right there in front of all her teammates. She could not let that happen, she could not imagine the price they would all have to pay if she did.

Curled up in a tight ball in her sleeping area, Weiss let out the pain that she had hidden in her heart, her shoulders shaking with her sobs. Within her, emptiness swirled and ate incessantly at her, gouging wounds in her already shattered soul. She hated it, that once in a while it all got too much for her to bear and she had to cry her heart out like a wounded child. She hated that she would always flinch whenever she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, however brief. She hated it all, but she could not help it, she was only human after all, and all humans had feelings.

That was why she needed a heart of stone, so she would no longer have to feel any of those horrible emotions that tormented her and made her life a living hell. A heart of stone trusted no one and was trusted by no one, it was a heart that took the path of loneliness by choice and felt neither pain nor sorrow. Her lonely heart had curled in on itself defensively, trying to harden itself, but it ended up pushing away the only thing that could help it. Companionship with trustworthy people, that was all that could save Weiss from the jaws of a loneliness-induced insanity. Companionship, the very thing she had to reject, to steer clear of.

The softest sound of footsteps right at the edge of her bed made Weiss tense, her hand instinctively seeking Myrtenaster, her powerful rapier stocked with high quality Dust mined and purified by the Schnee company, a weapon that gave her an edge over the others yet made her weaker for it. As her hand wrapped around the hilt of the rapier, Weiss sensed that the aura of the intruder was not at all threatening in any way; she assumed that it was one of the girls that slept next to her intruding briefly to get something she needed. Releasing Myrtenaster, comfortingly weighed down by the full barrels of Dust within, the white haired girl focused on all the sounds made by the person before her, refusing to raise her head from the shelter of her blanket. There was a scuffing sound of feet shuffling awkwardly, the sound of clothing being pressed, shifted; this person was on edge, for some reason currently unknown to her.

"Weiss…?" Said girl recognized the velvety purr instantly; it was Blake, and she sounded rather nervous, "What's wrong?"

"Everything," she longed to snap bitterly, but how could she? Ruining the image of a perfectly happy and arrogant heiress with all she ever wanted was absolutely forbidden. No one could know how trapped and lonely Weiss felt, not even the other elites; she had to seem as if she had more than she could ever want for all the time. She had to continue pushing everyone away, especially that observant and sensitive dark haired girl; otherwise, there would be Hell to pay for them both.

"Just… tired," she said softly, uncharacteristically, yawning as loudly as she dared; she hoped to convince Blake that it was but a mere physical exhaustion that was bothering her, instead of a soul-deep, painfully dark despair. Hidden beneath the covers, Weiss could still practically see the doubt flickering across Blake's cat-like, hypnotizing amber eyes.

However, Blake chose to leave her as she was, advising her to get some rest so she would feel better in the morning. Forcing an edge of haughtiness into her tone, Weiss replied, "I can take care of myself."

Even through the sheets, she could feel Blake's sympathetic and empathetic gaze upon her. Very softly and very sadly, without an ounce of taunting or insolence in her voice, the dark warrior whispered, "Sure you can…"

Weiss lacked the heart to snap at her for the comment, waiting for the alluring dark haired girl's footsteps to fade before allowing her tears to continue falling.

"Blake Belladonna…"

The longing in her heart for said girl was tearing Weiss apart, how could she desire another girl so strongly that she was willing to risk absolutely _everything_ just to get one day, one moment, alone with her? What was this strange, burning feeling in her chest…?

"I think I love you…"

**A/N: Please leave a review telling me how you felt about the story! Thank you very much!**

**Haruka**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here is the next chapter for all you awesome readers out there! Thank you for taking the time to read this story, I hope that it will please you. I am on a roll today, my muse is back with a vengeance! Hopefully, it will translate to a satisfying read for you all.**

**This story is akin to Blake's point of view on things, but it is still in the second person (it is second person, right?).**

**Haruka**

Weiss Schnee had something against mirrors, anyone who watched her long enough, carefully enough, would be able to tell. Weiss Schnee had secrets to hide, maybe more than one of them; Blake Belladonna could ascertain all that with absolute confidence; she had been watching the heiress like a hawk since the day they met, after all.

Whenever the white haired beauty walked into the room, Blake's eyes were always trained on her immediately; it mattered not where they were or who they were around. The dark warrior had started out wanting to find something about Weiss, the heiress of the company that subjugated her people and made their lives living hell, to hate. Sure, she had enough to hate the ice princess based on their first encounter outside Beacon, where Weiss had behaved like quite the arrogant spoiled child; if only Blake were not so talented at reading people that she knew it was an obvious false front. It was unacceptable, hating a person for something they were so obviously not; she had to find something else, something _true_, to hate about Weiss Schnee, Blake felt that she could not live with herself otherwise.

Due to that disturbing compulsion, the dark warrior guessed that she knew more about the heiress than anyone else here. No one else had watched Weiss as closely as she did, no one else could see through the bitchy and haughty act that Weiss had put up, no one else saw the way Weiss flinched ever so slightly whenever she caught sight of her own reflection in a mirror, the way she did everything she could to avoid crossing the path of one, the way she let her guard down mere moments before sleep and her eyes filled with such emptiness and pain… Only Blake noticed all these things, everyone else generally tried to stay out of the ice princess' way, especially those who lacked the social standing to speak to her. The other rich aristocrats interacted with her fine, but it was obvious that they were simply tolerating one another for the sake of their families.

Weiss had grown into an obsession with time, the more Blake watched and garnered information, the less she wanted to hate the white haired heiress. In fact, she wanted to befriend her, maybe even be more than just friends with her. Something drew Blake to her like a moth to a flame, it was definitely more than her breathtaking beauty (she had to admit, Weiss was good-looking); maybe it was due to the hidden aura of frustrated sorrow the heiress radiated that Blake similarly carried within herself. Birds of a feather flocked together; after all, that was how the saying went.

In the dark warrior's eyes, Weiss Schnee was no longer the hated heiress of that accursed Schnee Dust Company, but instead a fellow human being who too was suffering. Her view of the girl had changed and her hate had died; she realized that the words that one of her fellows back home told her were extremely valuable. "Never hate someone you have not yet had the chance to know," she had been told, no better piece of advice has ever been given.

Blake had always, naïvely and foolishly, assumed that the heiress lived in absolute luxury with complete freedom, allowed to do as she pleased, but soon found it to be untrue. Weiss had the eyes, the aura, of a caged bird, lonely, pained and agonizingly hollow. She had the eyes of a girl who knew what pain was like, who knew oppression and repression like the back of her hand. Blake never imagined that a Schnee, of all people, would have those eyes; who would believe that the rich would cage their own children?

Over the weeks of training, Blake had also learned much through watching her teammate's fighting style. It was obvious that Weiss had only fought in controlled environments, most likely for her own protection; she was rather inexperienced and lacked the ability to hold back and show mercy. She was not lithe, quick, instinctive and adaptable enough, it was clear that she was used to fighting cumbersome and not-too-intelligent opponents. Weiss had almost killed Ruby Rose when she had the opening (she ended up burning the training arena), though Yang Xiao Long was far too experienced for her and ended up toying with her. It seemed possible that Weiss had insisted upon the battle training, and her parents' compromise was to have her fight where she was completely safe. It could also be that the white haired heiress was forced into fighting… but she would not be in Beacon if she was, would she? She could always stay at home, ignorant to the suffering of the world, and learn the ropes to run that accursed company.

They were really, truly the same, Blake had come to realize, birds of a feather trapped in cages, only that Weiss' was gold while her own was a dusty, rotting reddish brown. Did the material and color of the bars matter? Not at all, Blake concluded, for either way, they were both still caged and could not fly; her own rotting bars just gave her more freedom and leeway than the solid, gleaming ones of Weiss' fancy prison.

The heiress of the Schnee Dust Company was in a state worse that her own… it was a terrible thing to think about. Perhaps, somewhere deep inside, Blake was hoping that the world, that reality would be as simple and childlike as "the rich are happy, the poor are not". It killed her to find out otherwise.

Even Adam would want to help Weiss, the dark haired warrior was sure of it; he was a man who fought for the happiness of those who were suffering. His heart would have gone out to the fragile white haired girl who was trying her hardest to hide herself from the world; there was no doubt about it. Weiss was not at all contemptible, not at all the sheltered brat who looked down on the world; it was simply a mask that her position, and maybe her parents, had required of her. Weiss was a pitiable girl, trapped in her own agony, unable to do anything for herself…

Blake had always had her suspicions that the white haired girl's life was not as peachy as it seemed, and they were confirmed the day Weiss had nearly broken down outside the shower room. She had snapped at Ruby and seemed her usual haughty self, but Blake could see the tears in the corners of her brilliant blue eyes, threatening to fall as Weiss fled to the dormitory. There, Blake had approached Weiss and asked if anything was wrong, but decided not to pry when Weiss was unwilling to speak the truth. She feared that if she pushed her too far, Weiss might leave Beacon, and she would no longer have the white haired beauty to watch nearly every moment.

Something shifted within the room, and Blake raised her head cautiously to identify what it was. Over the rows of sleeping girls, it was easy to see the white haired heiress on her feet, hurrying out the door with her weirdly named rapier, "Myrtenaster", in one hand. Grabbing Gambol Shroud in case Weiss was not too welcoming of her presence, the dark warrior followed after her like a predator stalking its unwitting prey. She had to be careful, that rapier was stocked with Dust, and considering Weiss' inability to hold back, if she startled her, Weiss might just set a section of Beacon alight, or maybe freeze it.

As she walked, Blake wondered what in the world she should do after stalking Weiss to her destination. How could she help the white haired girl feel better…? _Hmm, maybe I should just talk to her... I annoy her fairly easily, and having an annoyed Weiss is better than having a depressed one…_

Weiss' destination was the courtyard or garden or whatever it was called (Blake honestly could not care less); she was sitting on a stone bench by a row of brilliantly flowering shrubs, a shaft of moonlight turning her hair a hypnotizing, ethereal silver. She had buried her face in her hands, Myrtenaster resting in her lap, and her shoulders were shaking ever so slightly with her uneven, shaky breaths.

As Blake neared the girl, she realized that… Weiss was crying. Weiss Schnee, the ice princess, was _crying_. It hurt her to see the girl she admired in such pain, surrounded by such despair and sorrow; Blake longed to help her in any possible way, however small.

Weiss' sobs were slowly increasing in volume as her sorrow continued pouring from her; empathy swelled in Blake's own, wounded and scarred heart as she emerged from the shadows soundlessly, speaking gently, "Weiss, are you alright?"

Said girl immediately tensed, wiping her eyes quickly and glaring at the dark haired girl with as much haughtiness as she could muster. "What's it to you?" Her eyes were still wet, and there was too much pain within her to make that haughty exterior convincing to anyone but the socially retarded Ruby Rose right now. Heck, even Ruby should not be stupid enough to fall for Weiss' lie right now.

"I am not blind enough to be fooled by your masks, Weiss Schnee," Blake purred, her voice gentle and soothing; somehow, it felt like smooth, warm chocolate.

Weiss flinched visibly this time, tears starting to well in her crystal blue eyes. She fought them off, determined not to give in, "I have no idea what you mean."

A warm, velvety chuckle, pained yet amused, sounded in the icy night. Blake wrapped muscular, tanned arms around the pale skinned heiress, gently resting her head atop soft, sweet-smelling white hair. She whispered in a low, almost seductive purr, "That is not so, and you know it well, heiress."

"W-what do you know?" Weiss struggled, knowing that she would never be able to beat the eloquent, observant girl in any argument but too stubborn to give in. Within her, bitterness began to well forth, resulting in a harsh edge to her tone that was never really there at other times. It worried Blake immensely to hear it, but the dark warrior was controlled enough not to let it show.

"More than you give me credit for," Blake replied, her voice still rich, velvety and completely calm. Keeping her wits about her, the well-read girl remembered all the conversations she had read, all the ways arguments could be won, determined not to let Weiss get away with a weak lie this time.

Her words galled Weiss to the core, how could the dark warrior say things like that so darn emotionlessly, as if it were nothing? She wanted to hiss, to release the pent-up despair within her chest, but she refrained to the best of her abilities and tried to remain silent. _Give her the cold shoulder,_ Weiss instructed herself, stiffening her body to minimize the contact between it and Blake's.

It was useless; Blake could always turn the situation to give herself the upper hand with ease and what would always seem like minimal effort. She nearly always looked like she was simply amusing herself by aggravating others, which was true at certain times. Now was definitely not one of them, but Blake was not going to let that show just yet. A teasing tone slightly edged her voice as she asked, "Speechless now, are we?"

Weiss had nothing to say against that, how could she respond without giving away the truth? "Leave me alone," she chose to say, it was weak, but at least it prevented her from divulging any information about her fragile emotional state. She hoped that it would shut Blake up, what good comebacks were there to something as simple and direct as 'leave me alone'?

"Why should I, when you obviously need someone?" Blake's tone was serious now, yet kind and gentle at the same time. It aggravated Weiss immensely, how sure of herself the dark warrior sounded; was she really that transparent, that easy to read? No, it could not be, only Blake had seen through her act so far…

"Don't make baseless assumptions," Weiss shot back, glad that it sounded fairly intelligent and came out of her mouth without a hitch. She pulled away from Blake, putting a little more space between them, annoyed and frustrated that her body missed the dark warrior's warmth almost instantly.

"Who says they're baseless?" Blake replied smoothly; she was still perfectly calm, like the surface of a lake. Weiss sputtered, trying to find something to say in return, "I-I do!" It was not the best of all comebacks, but at least it was something.

"You're lying, to both me and yourself," confidently, the dark warrior purred her response without missing a beat; it was obvious that the faltering Weiss would not win this. Still, she stubbornly stood her ground, determined not to let Blake get the better of her that easily. _Change the subject,_ she decided, _if she follows, you can get her off your case._

"Do not accuse someone of a higher standing of lying so lightly, we all have a sense of-" as expected, she was cut off by a low, amused chuckle and the words, "You know I do not care for social standings, heiress."

Her irritation and anger grew as she growled, relieved that she seemed to be succeeding, "Well, you should. It is the b-"Again, the dark warrior interrupted her, purring smoothly, "Do not try to change the subject." How was she caught…? Darn, Blake was much more observant and intelligent than she thought… What should she, could she, say now?

She froze when she felt Blake's arms wrap around her again, one hand stroking her gently, rubbing little circles into her back as if she were an upset child needing to be soothed. Blake purred into her ear, "It is okay to cry, heiress, it is part of being who we are." Tears sprang to the white haired girl's eyes as her body betrayed her mind and sank gratefully into the warm embrace; it was something she had desired for a very long time, though she liked not to admit it. Weiss wanted to resist, to push Blake away, to keep up the façade, but with such warm arms wrapped around her, she lacked the strength to do so. Blake could practically feel the girl's emotional barriers giving way as she turned to burrow her face in the dark warrior's shoulder, Myrtenaster rolling aside and resting gently in the dew-coated grass, sobbing out the knot that had bound itself in her heart. Blake allowed her to cry, stroking the back of her head with her other hand and marveling at the texture of her silky white hair, wishing with all her heart that she could help the white haired girl feel better.

Softly, gently, Blake's alluring voice called, "Weiss, look at me." Hesitantly, the white haired girl obeyed, raising her tear-streaked face to meet they eyes of one of the victims of the Schnee Dust Company's suspicious business dealings. _The exploited masses are not the only ones suffering due to that accursed company;_ Blake thought to herself, _even their heiress has been forcibly oppressed, wounded by their aspirations._

Looking up in to those beautiful amber eyes, Weiss saw herself reflected in them clearly, and she could not help but flinch almost imperceptibly at what she saw. Blake felt it, of course she did; her gaze morphed into one of concern, warmth and gentleness, melting the ice princess in her arms completely.

"I'll be here for you," Blake promised, honesty raw in her low, alluring voice, "You do not ever have to be alone again." She wanted to do whatever she could to protect the girl in her arms; maybe one bird could not break free from the cage, but how about two? Teamwork could move mountains, was that not what she had been taught since youth?

To Weiss, those amazing amber eyes were like twin mirrors, but not only did they reflect her weakness and scars back at herself, they also assured her that she was not alone, that she could seek salvation. Within those amber depths, she could see everything that Blake was prepared to give her freely; it was more than what she could have ever dreamed to receive.

Maybe, she thought, mirrors were not so bad after all… Especially mirrors like Blake's of liquid gold…

"B-Blake…" Weiss had tried her best to hate the dark warrior, she was an enemy of the company after all, but all that forced animosity had drained out of her body along with her façade. Within Blake's arms, Weiss no longer felt lonely, no longer felt like a marionette for the Schnee family, a broken puppet. Instead, she felt like an actual human being, a normal girl… she had never believed that she would, could, ever feel this way.

Holding Weiss in her arms, the dark warrior felt as if her world had finally fallen into place. Light had returned to the dark and torturous realm of her existence, it was as if she had found her purpose just by hugging Weiss, stroking her back gently as she cried… Life seemed perfect, she could not want for anything else in the world.

Sure, the golden cage that held the white dove was much stronger than the rusted and rotting one that restrained the black raven, but did that mean it was inescapable? No, it simply meant that Weiss needed some help to break free, even just a little bit, from the iron grip of her family, and Blake was more than willing to offer her help. The dark warrior was willing to do _anything_ for the sake of the heiress she was supposed to hate.

"Thank you…" Weiss breathed, finally getting the words out of her frozen throat. Her body was tingling with the delightful sensation of Blake's warm body at such close proximity; she hoped that she was not blushing too darkly at the moment.

Embarrassed now, the dark warrior could not find any words to say to the snow white beauty in her arms. She was not exactly the most experienced person in this department, she found humans rather trying to understand; she had honestly expected a cold, haughty answer from the ice princess and was readily equipped with comebacks to reduce Weiss to an annoyed, sputtering mess. Flailing, she managed to find something intelligent-sounding to choke out, though she regretted it almost instantly. "Could you tell me… what is it that made you cry?"

Before Blake could slap herself for making such a request, Weiss nodded and took a deep breath, gathering her strength and trying to steady herself. Still, her voice was shaky as she explained what it was like being a puppet on strings controlled by her family, the sole reason for her tears of sorrow, of anger, of frustration and despair.

"I know all the lines to say, the part I am expected to play, the girl I am supposed to be," Weiss whispered softly, "I know that I am nothing but a tool. But knowing and accepting are two very different things." Continuing, she told of her experiences, forced to learn painful lessons like betrayal and loss for the sake of shaping up into the perfect, haughty heiress for the family company. No one ever cared about her feelings, her wellbeing… she was just a doll, to be used as they pleased, a child whose voice was never heard. She was never allowed to just be Weiss, she had to act as the girl that they wanted at all times. It frustrated her and angered her; it also tore her apart and filled her with loneliness and despair. She hated it, she wanted to just be Weiss, but that was impossible, and it galled her to no end. She loathed being helpless, but what could she do against her family, her parents?

"You don't have to be anyone but yourself when you're with me," Blake replied; she could already see why this girl had a loathing for mirrors. Weiss most probably did not want to see herself, her real self, covered in wounds and scars and pretty masks as she was. Blake's heart went out to her, at the very least, the dark warrior could still be herself and live with herself, but the girl in her arms could not.

Weiss had learned that she could hide from anyone but herself, she had tried her hardest to do so, but it was absolutely impossible. She could not hide from an outsider like Blake, who had shared similar experiences, so how could she possibly hide from the bitter, wounded girl she was inside when that girl knew everything?

"I want to be the one who is always there for you, Weiss," Blake had no idea why she said that; the words had just come out before she could process them. Though it embarrassed her to have said what she did, the dark warrior managed to keep the blush away from her cheeks. The look in her eyes was serious, honest; it told Weiss that she was not lying in any way. She had meant every word, and Weiss could safely trust her. _No games this time,_ her eyes were saying, _I am being honest._

Blushing, Weiss looked away; she was a beautiful little snowdrop emerging later than the rest, standing out amongst the Spring flowers, a brilliant snow white. Pure, innocent, a mere child wounded by the cruelty of the adult's world around her. She did not deserve to feel any pain, she should be a naïve and spoiled brat the way all heirs and heiresses were portrayed as in storybooks, why did reality have to be so harsh? They were all children, Weiss, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Blake herself, what were they doing in an academy for Hunters? What were they doing, training for life and death combat? Why were Weiss and herself already marked with indelible scars at their age?

"T-thank you…" Weiss managed to choke out, her alabaster cheeks stained scarlet; it broke Blake out of the darkness that was her negative thoughts. It was amusing to see the normally arrogant and cold heiress so vulnerable, like a little child; Blake adored it. "I… I'm sorry… for being such a bitch…"

"You don't have to be," as much as Blake enjoyed their constant arguments and galling the heiress to her core, she realized that she would rather they talk without barbs in every word and swords in every sentence. Weiss looked up at her with huge, tear-filled blue eyes, looking very much like a puppy that had been kicked too many times.

An unbearable impulse to claim the lips of the fragile princess in her arms overtook her, and before Blake could even think about the consequences suddenly kissing Weiss might entail, she had already gone ahead and done it. Weiss' lips were petal soft and very warm, wet and salty with her tears…

To Blake's surprise, the white haired heiress in her arms began to respond to her, melting completely like a little puppy into her embrace. Slender arms wrapped around her neck as Weiss deepened the kiss; Blake's own arms descended to the girl's waist and pulled her as close as possible, eliminating the space between them. She had not expected Weiss to respond; she had been prepared to ready Gambol Shroud for a dance with Myrtenaster, prepared to hear the heiress lash at her with cold, cruel, judgmental words. What were the chances of some upright and uptight family's heiress liking girls, after all?

Some part of Weiss' mind told her that if her parents could see her right now, they would explode so violently they would make Ruby's accident on the first day look like a child's Fourth-of-July sparkler. She reveled in the thought, relieved that she was finally doing what she longed to do and glad that it would frustrate her parents to no end; it was killing two birds with one stone.

_I am not just the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company._

**I am not just a beast of vengeance emerging from the shadows.**

They break the kiss to catch their breath, cheeks flushed and eyes starting to glaze over. The dark haired warrior purred into her princess' ear, "Will you be mine?" She sounded so sexy, so confident, unlike the wreck of nerves that she really was on the inside, worrying over Weiss' reaction. Had she pushed her luck too far…?

_From now on…_

**From now on…**

"Yes," Weiss breathed, unable to believe her ears; at last, the girl whom she had admired for so long, whose gaze she had felt burning into her every single day, was asking her this question. How she longed to belong to Blake, to fill the void in her chest with every delicious inch of the alluring dark haired girl… She ran her hands through long black hair, feeling the silken strands wash over her fingers smoothly.

_I, Weiss Schnee, am also the lover of Blake Belladonna, a girl with a grudge against my family._

**I, Blake Belladonna, am also the lover of Weiss Schnee, the girl whom I once thought of as an enemy.**

Their lips met again, false hatred and animosity all thrown out the window, finally allowing themselves to just _be_ who they really were. Damn stereotypes, damn their families and purposes, damn the world, damn everything, nothing would ever stop them from savoring the angel they had finally found.

Watery, silver moonlight shone over the strange pair entangled in the courtyard, black and white, beast and princess, the morbid fairytale of two caged birds finally takes a turn for the better tonight. All the suffering they have endured until this amazing, perfect night… was worth it.

_**Together, these caged birds will someday take flight, freed from their prisons at long last...**_

_**THE END**_

**A/N: Please leave me a review if you have any comments! Thank you very much!**

**Haruka**


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